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Annual General Meeting AICA-‐UK ICA Studio, The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH 6:00 – 9pm Monday 10 November 2014 Member are invited to meet at 6.00pm in the front foyer of the ICA, when we be given a welcome by ICA curator Matt Williams, and a tour of the current exhibitions: Neil Beloufa, ‘Beware Wet Paint’, and ‘Cybernetic Serendipity: A Documentation’, curated by AICA member Jasia Reichardt. 6.30pm -‐ Meeting to begin in the ICA Studio 7:30 pm – Member’s Debate: Forum on Censorship Drinks and canapés Agenda 1 Apologies 2 Minutes of the 2013 AGM (See Attached) 3 Matters arising 4 President’s Report (See Attached) 5 Treasurer’s Report, Approval of Annual Accounts and Election of Auditor 6 Secretary’s Report 7 Membership Secretary’s Report 5 Executive Elections NB: members of AICA UK may propose and second candidates for the Executive and not be present in person. Candidates are asked to provide a short biography. A secret ballot of all paid up members present is held. Existing officers and Executive Committee members elected for three-‐year terms in 2012 and 2013 who are willing to continue to serve: Marjorie Allthorpe-‐Guyton President (2012) Charles Pickstone Treasurer (2012) Laura Moffatt Executive Committee (2012) Ingrid Swenson Executive Committee (2012) Rachel Withers Executive Committee (2012) Doro Globus Executive Committee (2013) Hugh Pilkington Executive Committee (2013) Current Nominations for Secretary: Rachel Withers Proposed by Marjorie Allthorpe-‐Guyton Seconded by Chris Fite-‐Wassilak Withers has been a member of AICA from early 1990s and Executive member for three
years. On the Executive, she has focused on recruiting new members and given general
support to the organisation. She is a contributor to Artforum and other publications and
has taught in higher education for over two decades. She has extensive experience in
writing on art and [via teaching] administration, and would be happy to take on the role
of Secretary.
Current Nominations for Membership Secretary: Laura Moffatt Proposed by Charles Pickstone Seconded by Ingrid Swenson Moffatt has served on the AICA executive for 4 years and has experience running
subscription databases and of being the director of a membership organization. Current Nominations for Executive Committee members: JJ Charlesworth Proposed by Chris Fite-‐Wassilak , Seconded by Marjorie Allthorpe-‐Guyton Chris Fite-‐Wassilak , Proposed by Rachel Withers, Seconded by Laura Moffatt Sarah Wilson Proposed by Klara Kemp Welch Seconded by Marjorie Allthorpe-‐Guyton Sarah Wilson is an art historian and curator whose interests extend from postwar and
Cold War Europe and the USSR to contemporary global art. She was educated at the
University of Oxford (English Literature) and at The Courtauld where she took her MA
and Ph.D degrees. In 1997 she was made Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French
Government for services to French art and culture. 6 Election of New Members Applicants for Membership: Richard Davey (proposed by Laura Moffatt, seconded by Doro Globus) Richard Davey has been a very active critic of new and 20th-‐century art for many years. I have been aware of his work through publications such as the Church Times, Image and our own publication Art & Christianity. He has recently made major contributions to a monograph on Tess Jaray and the catalogue for the forthcoming RA Anslem Kiefer exhibition as well as his own book on the work of John Newling, all of which do justice to his consistent engagement with contemporary art. – Laura Moffatt I'm writing in support of Richard Davey's application to AICA. I worked with Davey at length in 2013 on Tess Jaray's monograph. He wrote an in depth essay on the artist's work. Here he looked at space within the paintings relating the work to cathedrals, mosaics, and much more. A trained medievalist, Davey brings this experience to contemporary art. He has just completed a large essay on Anslem Kiefer for the Royal Academy's forthcoming retrospective. Other recent texts include 'Spinning: Nature, culture and the spiritual in the work of John Newling' published by Nottingham Contemporary and James Hugonin published by Ingelby Gallery. Writing about particular artists has also led Davey to a number of curatorial projects including his recent exhibition on the work of Tess Jaray at the Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham this year. Davey would be a strong addition to AICA and would be an active member. -‐ Doro Globus 10 Website 11 AICA UK Annual Programme and AICA International Congress 2015 12 AOB The next AGM will be held in November 2015 Chris Fite-‐Wassilak Hon Secretary AICA-‐UK AICA UK AGM 2014 President’s Report
We are pleased to welcome thirteen new members this year from across the
visual arts bringing the UK membership to almost three hundred. Part of my
focus this year has been to involve members in the work of AICA International. I
am pleased that Sarah Kent agreed at short notice to contribute to a special
edition of the US journal The Brooklyn Rail on European Art Criticism guest
edited by Marek Bartelik, President of AICA International. This important survey
was written by Presidents of AICA National Sections, members and invited
artists. Sarah was interviewed by Phyllida Barlow whose magisterial installation
at Tate Britain this year won critical acclaim and further enhanced her
international reputation. The Brooklyn Rail issue is posted online on the AICAUK
website and offers insight into the history and current condition of criticism across
Europe.
The AICA Congress is an important platform for AICA members and this year
was hosted by AICA Korea with a post Congress visit organised by AICA Taiwan
which began to address the importance of AICA building its membership and
profile in Asia. AICAUK offered travel grants to AICA members and we are
delighted that artist and writer Paul O’Kane attended and chaired Q&A sessions,
Paul will be posting his perspective on the Congress and will give a presentation
later in the year. The Congress was generously funded by the Suwon Foundation
and by the Minister of Culture who we had the opportunity to meet privately.
Educated in art history, he was exceptionally mindful of the role of criticism and
the importance of support for artists and writers. AICA Korea has already
published the Congress papers in book form and will post the proceedings
online. Papers covering the three themes were wide ranging, from in depth
appraisal of one artist to philosophical analysis of curatorial approaches under
repressive political conditions. Notwithstanding problems of translation and
cultural context, the Congress successfully challenged Eurocentric positions,.
The programme of gallery visits included the Nam June Paik Centre in Suwon ,
opened 2005 , which holds Paik’s archive. The Suwon cultural festival and post
Congress tour to the Busan and Gwangju Biennales offered a rich experience of
Asian art and curatorial projects.
The AICA International Award for a distinguished contribution to art criticism was
given posthumously to the Korean critic Lee Yil (1932-1997) an anthology of
whose work is published in three volumes in Korean. It is hoped to publish an
English edition as part of the series AICA launched in 2012 with the publication of
the work of the Paraguayan critic Ticio Escobar. AICA is pleased to have
collaborated with publishers Ridinghouse who are distributing Escobar’s book
under their imprint in Europe and the North America.
The Annual Congress in Korea also held Elections for the post of President and
Secretary General and I am pleased to report that I was elected as the new AICA
International Secretary General succeeding Brane Kovic, I assume my new role
in January 2015 and will continue as President of the UK section until the next
AGM 2015.
I have been Chair of the AICA Congress Commission for the last three years and
feel that the format needs to change to enable a wider membership to participate.
For that reason I attach my report to the Congress Commission which outlines
key issues and proposals. I welcome feedback.
The Executive has met five times and we convened two Ordinary General
Meetings with the summer meeting in Liverpool to coincide with the Liverpool
Biennale and in line with our policy to host at least one event outside London. We
are very grateful to Tate Liverpool for hosting us and to the Bluecoat for hosting
our Critics Forum which was chaired by Sacha Craddock with members Coline
Milliard and JJ Charlesworth and myself. We had a large and vocal audience
who addressed the nature of Biennales and the issues raised by themed
exhibitions. Observations are posted on the AICA website. AICA UK’s archive is
held by Tate and is managed by member Heather Waddell with whom I met with
the Tate Head of Archives, Adrian Glew to discuss access to the AICA archive
and new deposits, including the website. We are pleased that the AICA archive
has now been catalogued and is available for consultation.
We would like to remind members of the Archives des Critiques D’Art held at
the University of Rennes which holds the AICA International Archive and
welcomes deposits of bibliographies and texts by AICA members. The Archives
is becoming ever wider in its reach as a major resource for critics and scholars,
please register and subscribe to the archive’s journal.
I was pleased to be a judge in the independent Breeze Little Critic’s Award and to
endorse AICA UK’s support for the new International Award for Art Criticism
(IAAC), stemming from the John Moores’s Critics’ Prize, details are posted on the
website. Judges this year include members JJ Charlesworth and Rachel Withers.
I am pleased that JJ Charlesworth, former Membership Secretary is standing as
an Executive member.
AICA International has transformed its website, and we are looking at
improvements to the UK site to make it attractive to a general reader as well as
more useful for the members to showcase their work and to engage in critical
discourse. The website is a tool for members to publicise their work and we urge
members to post items and to liaise with the web editor Chris Fite-Wassilak. Our
final event this year is our Annual Lecture and we welcome our guest speaker
Roberta Smith, art critic of the New York Times on 3rd December. Roberta is one
of a cherished and threatened species, an independent and informed critical
voice reaching a wide readership. Please come and participate in what should be
a great evening of critical debate.
Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton
October 2014
Addendum.
XLVII AICA International Congress Korea 2014
AICA International Congress Commission
The three most recent AICA Congresses: Paraguay 2011, Zurich 2012 and
Slovakia 2013 have been distinct in most respects; in their themes, host country,
venues and organisation and in the diversity of their speakers and delegates. All
benefited from significant funding for speakers from the Getty Foundation. This
year we were not able not able to secure Getty funding and we are immensely
grateful to our hosts AICA Korea and to the Suwon Foundation for enabling us to
hold the AICA annual Congress in South Korea. We are especially pleased that
travel funds were made available for some speakers who would not otherwise
have been able to participate. We have speakers from 19 countries, from Asia,
Europe, (west, east and central), Russia, the United Arab Emirates, the US,
Canada , New Zealand and Australia. This range of speakers is an achievement,
although for many reasons, not least funding, Latin America, Africa, India are
notable absences. I am also very grateful to our colleagues in AICA Korea for
responding to numerous emails and for managing the tight timetable and for their
advice, organisation and for an admirably clear website. We look forward to two
very full weeks in South Korea.
Future Congress
Sweden has had to withdraw from hosting the Congress in 2015 for lack of
funding. We warmly thank Sophie Allgardh for her preliminary work. While this
cancellation is much to be regretted, it does present an opportunity to revisit the
raison d’etre of the Congress now, when the art world year is packed with
academic conferences and international events. The time required and the costs
of attending Congress are a major problem and I anticipate this will be reflected
this year in Korea in the number and range of delegates.
The question is raised every year, but I am convinced that now is the time to
consider change. Congress is now not accessible to many AICA members unless
they contribute as speakers and are funded by universities or through grants.
This raises serious issues on the democracy of the AICA General Assembly held
at Congress when elections are conducted and important decisions taken, often
by the same small group of people. The Commission must address this before
agreement is made on the next Congress. It would be helpful if the Commission
could give preliminary thought to the following:
•
Frequency: could Congress be biennial to enable hosts to research
feasibility, adequate planning and fundraising and preferably timed to
coincide with a major art event, exhibition
•
Duration: could Congress be time limited and dedicated to the three days
of speakers and discussion, in line with academic conferences. AICA
administrative business and Commissions could be transferred to an AGM
held in Paris, or wherever the Head Office should this change in the
future.
•
The Membership: should consideration be given to formally canvassing
members on any change on this and other important issues through the
website and by email. This would require strong administrative support at
Head Office to administer and to analyse the feedback.
These are opening questions for what I hope will be a serious discussion of the
purpose and impact of Congress. I particularly welcome the views of colleagues
and our host this year, AICA Korea.
Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton
Chair AICA Congress Commission September 2012
Annual General Meeting AICA-‐UK ICA, The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH 6 – 8.30pm Tuesday 12 November 2013 Minutes Present: Marjorie Allthorpe-‐Guyton (President), Neal Brown, Eric Cheney, Paul Coldwell, Ian Collins, Nicholas Cranfield, Juan Cruz, Jonathan L. Dronsfield, Richard Dyer, Adrian George, Jonathan Koestlé-‐Cate, Henry Meyric-‐Hughes, Catherine Paviot, Clive Phillpot, Hugh Pilkington, Sylwia Serafiowicz, Jeni Walwin, Rachel Withers, Karen Wright 1 Apologies were read out from Dr. Charles Avery, Rosalind Blakesley, Helen de Borchgrave, Judt Collings, Eric Coombes, Sascha Craddock, Martin Holman, Merlin James, Omar Kholeif, Alice Mackrell, Roger Malbert, Christopher Martin, Susan Morris, Anna Moszynska, Astrid Schmetterling, Frances Spalding, Stephen Stuart-‐Smith, Angela Summerfield, Alan Sykes, Jen Thatcher, Laura Tomlinson, David Whiting 2 The Minutes of the 2012 AGM were reviewed. Catherine Paviot queried the Secretary’s Report to ensure that the monthly e-‐
newsletter would continue. CP also raised the issue of the quorum of the membership; the current quorum of 12 members was created for an AICA UK membership of 30 people; the AICA international statues state that a quarter of the members are required to form quorum. With a current membership of 250, it was suggested to amending the AICA UK required quorum accordingly. The issue was noted for further discussion. Minutes approved and seconded, no objections raised, and subsequently signed by the President as approved. 3 President’s Report -‐ attached, see Appendix 1 AICA’s biannual publication Critiques d’Art was highlighted to members. CP raised the issue of AICA’s 3-‐way translation at Congress and how this would function at the following Congress in Korea and which languages would be represented. An update on this issue to members will follow. 4 Treasurer’s Report The annual audited accounts were proposed and seconded for approval, no objections. George Littlejohn was proposed to act again as auditor for accounts next year; the proposal was seconded and accepted. 5 Secretary’s Report The secretary noted that he had been absent much of the year, and thanked his fellow executive members for their support and diligence. The secretary stressed the further development of the website as a means of sharing information amongst the membership, encouraging all members to make full use of the website in sharing information and contributing towards the forthcoming newsletter. 6 Membership Secretary’s Report The Membership Secretary reported that we currently have 290 members, urging that we need to continue to recruit new members, and continue to encourage members to propose new potential members. He acknowledged that the International membership form had been confusing and potentially dissuading new applications. Clive Phillpot raised the issue of existing AICA members from other countries having difficulty in transferring membership. The AICA UK requirement for existing members to act as Proposer and Seconder for potential candidates was queried as a block to new members; Jonathan L Donsfeldt proposed a review of this system. Members expressed a wish to facilitate new membership applications while retaining a sense of membership standards; it was acknowledged that these standards between the various roles of members varies widely. The point was raised from floor that none of writers for the national press are members, and that relationships between AICA and exhibiting institutions’ Press Offices are not always established. 7 Executive Elections Existing officers and Executive Committee members elected for three year terms in 2011, 2012 who are willing to continue to serve : Marjorie Allthorpe-‐Guyton President (2012) Charles Pickstone Treasurer (2012) Chris Fite-‐Wassilak Secretary (2011) JJ Charlesworth Membership Secretary (2012) Klara Kemp Welch Executive Committee (2011) Laura Moffat Executive Committee (2012) Ingrid Swenson Executive Committee (2012) Rachel Withers Executive Committee (2012) Nominated for Executive Committee Members, for a three year term from 2013: Doro Globus Proposed by Seconded by Ingrid Swenson Marjorie Allthorpe-‐Guyton The following statement was read: At Ridinghouse, I have been responsible for the commissioning, editing and general supervision of over 40 publications. Ridinghouse is dedicated to publishing the best of art writing and criticism; revisiting art history and exploring individual artists. In my role, I work closely with art historians, artists, critics, curators and artists with a particular focus on contemporary and modern art. Recent publications include, Pirates and Farmers: Essays on Taste by Dave Hickey; Paul Winstanley: Art School; The Space Between, Selected Writings on Art by Michael Bracewell. I look forward to drawing upon this network whilst working with AICA on the Executive Committee. I feel I can help bring new members and also connect current members through events and publications. Hugh Pilkington Proposed by Seconded by Marjorie Allthorpe-‐Guyton Ingrid Swenson Both Globus and Pilkington were elected to the executive by a majority. 8 AICA Writer online ‘writer in residence’ possibility AICA UK funds available presented the possibility for several activities to be considered, one option raised at the OGM being a paid ‘residency’ writing on the website. Several other options were discussed here for use of AICA UK funds, including the possibility of supporting members from outside of London for travel to meetings, or to support members travelling to AICA International Congresses. Several members expressed the opinion that AICA should act as a lobbying body for the art criticism profession, supporting our industry as part of a national consultative process, and providers of industry standard. Contributing this money towards an assessment of AICA’s role was discussed; the possibility of a survey that would investigate membership and standard of rates of pay was suggested. With the spectrum of members from academic and professional backgrounds this was acknowledged as difficult. A comparison with the NUJ rates of pay was agreed as a beneficial standard comparison. A meeting designated specifically for focusing on the issue of ‘What is AICA’ was proposed, towards discussing the make up and needs of the membership, its public and national role, and its aims and services. The next OGM will be held 14 January 2014 at the ICA; the next AGM will be held in November 2014. Chris Fite-‐Wassilak Hon Secretary AICA-‐UK Appendix 1 President’s Report 2013 The AICAUK Executive met in January and April to discuss membership and the
role and profile of AICA in the UK. We aim to strengthen links with publishers
and with the regions, to that end we are pleased that two members have been
elected to the Executive: Doro Globus, Ridinghouse publisher and Hugh
Pilkington who is based in Suffolk. Our Annual lecture 2012 at Tate Britain was
given by member Michael Bracewell to a wide audience enthralled by his account
of Roxy Music and the closely knit roles of art and music in British art schools in
the 1960s and 70s. We are delighted that the pre eminent art historian and
curator Dawn Ades, accepted our invitation to give the lecture this year and
grateful to Tate for once again hosting us.
Bar AICA, AICA’s informal salon discussions, which are open to non members,
have been on hold during the absence of our Secretary Chris Fite-Wassilak on
residences in France and the US. We hope to resume these lively gatherings in
2014 and notice will be posted on the website. In May we held a quasi Pecha
Kucha entertainment at the ICA studio; this was a good excuse for a party which
was amply catered by Peyton and well attended by members and others. We feel
it is essential that AICA convenes at least one meeting each year out of London.
The General meeting in September was kindly hosted by the Sainsbury Centre,
University of East Anglia, Norwich to coincide with the Masterpiece : Art and East
Anglia exhibition which was curated by AICA member Ian Collins.
I chaired a panel with members Charles Pickstone,JJ Charlesworth and Dr Judy
Collins to launch the Centre’s public events for the exhibition. The discussion,
centred on the notion of the ‘masterpiece’, with contributions from the floor
including member Matt Collings, was wide ranging, amusing and well received.
Warm congratulations to Ian Collins for an exhibition which has seen
unprecedented audiences at the Sainsbury Centre. The masterly catalogue with
eighty contributors from the region has just won the East Anglian Book of the
Year Award. Indeed it has been a stellar year for East Anglia. I was pleased last
week to encounter a fellow AICA member at Houghton Hall for the magnificent
Houghton Revisited, the return of the Walpole Masterpieces from the Hermitage.
It was a pleasant surprise to come across Richard Long’s Full Moon Circle in the
grounds, one of several contemporary works at Houghton. I am only sorry I
missed the Houghton Midsummer Ball where AICA members Michael Bracewell
and Simon Martin gave talks and tours of Houghton’s contemporary art.
Congratulations are due to other members for new publications, especially
Monica Bohm-Duchen for her Art & the Second World War just published by
Lund Humphries. The AICAUK membership continues to grow steadily we now
have a diverse almost three hundred critics, curators, teachers and art historians
from across the visual arts .
AICA International
AICA International has had an eventful year and there are now sixty two
countries with national sections and seventy seven members in the Open
section. The Bureau has appointed a Deputy Secretary General , Raphael Cuir,
AICA President France who will assist in running the Paris office . I attended the
AICA International March Council in Paris where as Chair of the Congress
Commission I prepared the application to Getty for travel awards for speakers
from developing countries. I am grateful to UK colleagues who gave advice on
potential candidates and I am pleased that we secured an increased Getty Award
of $ 55,000 which enabled ten speakers from Ecuador, Jamaica, Venezuela ,
Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Belarus, Poland, South Africa and China to attend
the AICA Congress in Slovakia. Their post Congress reports confirm the
significance and benefit that the Congress offers to both the participants and the
host country. This year our Slovakian colleagues planned a programme which
focused on East and Central Europe within a much wider context of other world
regions where issues of peripheral histories , parallel modernisms, tradition and
transformation made common ground for discussion.
The Congress opened with a tribute to the exceptional contribution and life of
critic and historian Pierre Restany whose entire library and archive is held at the
Archives de la Critique d’Art, Rennes which publishes the Critique d’art twice a
year.
The AICA Congress 2013 lectures are available online at www.aica.sk and there
are two highly readable and humorous accounts from Lisa Streitfeld of the
Huffington Post, especially of the performance lecture by Sebastian Baden the
young tyro who was awarded the AICA Incentive Young Critics Prize. I also draw
your attention to keynote speaker James Elkins’ post Congress online book and
his commentary ‘is art criticism global?’. Elkins makes the pertinent observation ‘
I think it would be hard to say exactly why they needed to be called ‘art criticism’,
or what the field or project of art criticism contributed to them that was not
already present in related studies in art history and theory, aside from specific
knowledge about recent art practices that is not available in art history texts’. This
last statement perhaps defines what criticism can be : to refract the work of art
through the lens of the writer’s subjective response, and of history and cultural
practices .
Elkins refers to AICA’s new bilingual publication of writing by the Paraguayan
critic Ticio Escobar , La Invención De La Distancia, (The Invention of Distance ),
the first of an AICA series devoted to distinguished contributions to art criticism .
Escobar’s writing is a case in point : poetic, historically centred, linguistically
complex. Henry Meyric Hughes and I were privileged to work with Adriana
Almada, AICA President Paraguay and with Christina MacSweeney on her
accomplished translation of this exceptional work which will for the first time bring
Ticio Escobar’s writing to an English speaking readership. The second award for
criticism was awarded posthumously at the Congress to the late Dr Thomas
Strauss whose work it is hoped to publish next year.
The Congress 2014 is to be hosted by South Korea and will be in both Seoul and
the nearby city of Suwon-Si , Gyeonggi-do , where the Hwaseong Fortress is a
Unesco World Heritage site. The Congress is planned for late September to
coincide with the Gwangjui Biennale whose artistic Director is Jessica Morgan of
Tate Modern. The theme and Call for Papers for the AICA Congress will shortly
be announced . I hope critics from the UK will submit papers and we will, as this
year, offer some financial support to UK speakers.
To conclude with two notices: I am one of three judges, with Brian Dillon, Editor
of Cabinet and Penelope Curtis, Director of Tate Britain of the BREEZE LITTLE
Prize for Art Criticism , Volume IX , deadline 10 January 2014 , details at
[email protected]. The Department of Art History , University of
Nottingham is convening a conference Art Criticism Now , 26 March 2014, which
makes the clarion call : ‘ What has happened to Baudelaire’s injunction that
criticism should be ‘partial, passionate and political’? Deadline for the Call for
Papers is 1 January 2014 , send proposals to Richard Wrigley at
[email protected] Finally , we look forward to the Grand
Reopening of Tate Britain on 19 November and the House Warming Party, a
celebratory free event on Saturday 23 November.
Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton
November 2013